A Dance With The Devil (In My Head)
by The Darkness Factor
Summary: "You want the dagger," Regina deduces, pivoting on one heel. Whatever pain was in her expression before, it's gone now. "Before today, if you had asked, I would have given it to you without question."


**A/N:** I'm not really sure what prompted me to write this. It was probably mostly rage from 'A Broken Kingdom'. But I really do love these two a lot.

Hope y'all like it!

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Emma gets back to her chambers expecting… well, she's not really sure what she's expecting. Peace and quiet, maybe (with Rumple in her head that isn't likely), or maybe some quality time with Henry. She slips off her shoes and stares at them, sitting next to the door and briefly wondering why his shoes aren't there next to hers.

But this isn't Mary Margaret's loft in Storybrooke, and she's not… not _safe_ enough anymore. Rumple winks at her from the corner of her eye whenever she turns her head, and the darkness burns in her, screaming to be set loose.

The dagger is somewhere above her in the castle. It's not within physical reach, but her magic can easily grasp it. If she just reaches out and wants enough…

"It appears that leaving you alone with yourself may no longer be an option."

Emma jumps, clenching her hand into a fist.

Regina's facing away from her, examining her collection of dreamcatchers. Emma snarls, taking a step in Regina's direction, but the surge of possessiveness dissipates when she gets close enough to see Regina's face.

She's looking at the dreamcatchers with a sad sort of understanding - an old pain. Gold is there again, telling her that killing Regina is the key to her freedom. He's easier to ignore now, for some reason.

"You want the dagger," Regina deduces, pivoting on one heel. Whatever pain was in her expression before, it's gone now. "Before today, if you had asked, I would have given it to you without question."

"But not now."

"No." Regina sighs. "If… whatever you've been seeing is telling you to take it…"

"That means I definitely shouldn't." Emma starts pacing. Gold is still there, but having someone around - having Regina around - makes her head clearer. Her thoughts are easier to piece together. Of course, it also means that she's a little annoyed that she wasn't privy to whatever plan Regina and her parents cooked up, but today's been… an okay day. She can live with not knowing.

"It's Rumplestiltskin." The words spill out of her. "He's in my head, Regina. He's always _there_ , and I can't get him out, and I'm so afraid that one day I'm going to start listening to him instead of arguing with him."

She sees Regina stiffen. For a moment, the familiar rage is in Regina's eyes; Emma half expects a fire ball to appear in her hand. But then the rage dies as Regina clenches one of her fists (not unlike the way Emma did, moments ago). They stare at one another for a moment, each uncertain as to what they should say next.

"Well, that certainly sounds like the Imp," growls Regina. But she leads Emma over to the bed and sits next to her, her actions belying her harsh words. "That changes things," she murmurs. Her hand is on Emma's back, and Emma finds herself taking comfort from it.

"Don't go all murderous on Gold when we get back," Emma says, trying to make a weak joke out of it. It falls flat, but Regina laughs anyway.

"Emma," she says. "How do you think I knew so much dark magic when you met me?"

Emma doesn't reply; the answer is fairly obvious.

"Rumplestiltskin may not have been in my head," Regina whispers, and for a moment she doesn't even look angry - she looks _hateful_. "But he was certainly always there."

Emma gets a terrible vision then - of a younger Regina, crushing a heart while Rumple giggles joyfully on the side. Distantly, she hears the Dark One that she has come to know laughing right along with him. There is a third noise as well, though: a voice concerned and pained.

Emma starts, and then chokes when she realizes that the giggles were coming from her own mouth.

"I'm sorry," she gasps. "I'm sorry, Regina - "

"For what? Emma, have you been sleeping?"

Emma ignores that question; Regina probably doesn't want to know the answer. "You were young," she finds herself whispering. "There was another woman there. And Gold. And you ripped her heart out and crushed it and you _smiled_."

Regina pales. Then, without warning, she whips a hand up and slaps Emma across the face.

"Ow!" Emma's hand flies up to her cheek. "Hey, what the hell - ?"

"You don't need to be reliving my past right now," Regina snaps. "That is the very last thing you need. Now, judging by how you never answered my question, I'm going to say you haven't slept in some time. I'm going to make sure that that happens."

Emma laughs. It drains her. "How?" She gestures at her dreamcatchers. "You've seen what happens when I try."

"I won't enchant you to sleep," Regina answers. "That will do nothing for you. But I can at least make it so that if you do, it's dreamless. And I'm not planning on going anywhere, so there's that."

"You'll stay." It's not a question.

"Of course I will."

Emma doesn't even bother crawling under the covers; she just lies down and closes her eyes, the promise of company surprisingly soothing. Just before she drifts off, she thinks she might feel Regina's hand on top of hers.


End file.
